No cook?

I must say that weighing all my packed gear was a sobering event. My base weight had climbed to 14 pounds 4.6 ounces which is quite a bit higher than my goal of 13 pounds. Nothing to do but go back through the stuff I was gonna bring and see what I could remove without losing comfort and safety. I managed to remove two pieces of clothing that wasn't necessary, given the heat wave I am facing when I get out there, but what else could I remove? Hmmmmmm.

For years now I have been resisting the notion of not bringing a stove with me on backpacking trips. I really only use it to heat up water for my dinner meal so it IS POSSIBLE to get by without heating my water on a stove. Especially with the hot sun we are having so far this summer. To see if there was another way to warm up my dinners I got a black bag I had made for another use and placed a ziplock containing my dinner and enough water to rehydrate it. I put it in the sun and within an hour my dinner was rehydrated and quite warm. It wasn't burning-hot by any means, but it turned out plenty hot enough for me. So here is what I am gonna do. Replace my cook kit which weighed 10.3 ounces, not including fuel

With the black bag, spoon and Ti cup (in case I have an emergency and have to heat water) I have dropped my food related weight to 3.1 ounces! I like it!

I painted my cup black with heat resistant paint so I can also use the sun to heat water in the cup, should I want to warm up some water for miso soup or anything else like that.

All things considered a respectable swap. I've removed 17 ounces from my overall weight but there is still something I can get rid of... I am sure of it. I still have three days to find a way...